September: Endings and Beginnings

Saying goodbye to the house was hard, probably harder than I expected as it felt like an ending of so many things. 

Blow up mattress giggles.

This dear gorgeous boy who will be forever remembered as their first pet. 

Final fires and time drawing together.

And then new crafts in new places, and Orion's space to work. 

Kiwi crates to make everything seem normal.

And a first prom. 

Journeys into the woods that we can access from the caravan park.

And Orion began his Dance GCSE at the Dorset Foundational College of Performing Arts. 

Cute people doing cute things.

Art sessions resumed at Russell Cotes for my teens group.

These too are so alike and so close. 

Cooking classes started back for Gabe.

We all watched the Queens funeral and made a cheesecake because we don't have tins to make a Victoria sponge but still wanted to make something traditional. 

Thea and I saw the most amazing and memorable production of Othello. 

And I keep trying to find ways to make treats last longer. 

August: Fairies, Witches and A Birthday

With just the small two in tow we were off to our favourite annual New Forest event... the Fairy Festival. 

Circus skills for hours if I would let them. 

Seeing dear friends only once a year is sad but when they arrive like this...

The best grumpy fairy in the forest!

The moment Ayla met a real life mermaid!

The moment Gabe won the fancy dress competition. 

Gabe would never leave the festival without his yearly picture with the Green Man. 

My ultra cool blue alien. 

Captivated by a Frozen dance performance.

And all the favourite costumed people we saw and met.

For Gabe's birthday gift I got us tickets to Wicked under the kids summer West End offer of half price tickets!! 

And we even managed to meet the stars of the show afterward and get some autographs. 

And then so quickly she turned 5!

It felt a little strange because of being half in and half out of the house but she still had a lovely day. 

To the cinema!

And because our lives were so all over the place, the cake came last but she decorated it herself in blue because Percy Jackson eats blue food, while wearing her Zombies cheerleading outfit!